Ed Carpenter has cited competition for engineers and other team personnel as part of the reason for his team scaling back to two full time IndyCar entries in 2024.

For the 2022 season, ECR effectively expanded from a two-car team to a two-and-a-half car team. Conor Daly and Rinus VeeKay were each given full season rides, along with Carpenter himself still running the oval rounds in a third car.

That arrangement persisted for the 2023 season, but will return to one full entry for VeeKay paired with a single entry shared between Carpenter and incoming rookie Christian Rasmussen.

Part of the reason for the arrangement is likely funding limitations on Rasmussen’s part, who is using scholarship money earned from his Indy NXT championship last year to help fund his entry into IndyCar.

But Carpenter outlined that there are other reasons he will be taking over the #20 for all oval rounds bar the Indianapolis 500, and a big one is the difficulty he’s had luring talented individuals away from other teams on the grid.

“Yeah, really a lot of it was just taking an assessment of where we were and how the year went, what went well and what didn’t, how do we take a step forward,” said Carpenter about his team scaling back.

“The series is so competitive now from top to bottom. For us, it was as much as anything about making sure we’re using the resources that we have with all of our personnel and cars and preparation and putting our best foot forward.

“We staffed up more last year for the third car than we had in the past, but that’s still probably less than what other two-car teams would average.

“As much as anything, we weren’t happy with how we performed last year overall. Doing the same exact thing again wasn’t going to be the ultimate fix.

“If we could have got enough additions into the team on all sides of things from engineering down through the mechanics, maybe we could have come to a different conclusion. The competition just isn’t on track, it’s off track as well. Very hard to get new people into the building and away from other teams.

“This is a solution that allows us to be more focused and hopefully come back stronger in 2024, which is the plan.”

The team’s plan leaves Rasmussen to run only the road and street courses, plus the Indy 500, for his rookie season.

Carpenter related that he would not be willing to let the young driver join another team for the oval rounds, but there is a small chance resources can be found to get him in his team’s car for more races in 2024.

“I would say it’s early enough that there’s always potential to add to the program that we have if the situation presents itself over time and we’re able to do that.

“Certainly the long-term goal is to have [Rasmussen] running a full-time schedule, so we’ll see how that develops. Right now, this is the plan.”

Ed Carpenter Racing has announced that Christian Rasmussen will make his IndyCar debut with the team for the 2024 season.

Rasmussen will drive the road and street courses for the #20 entry including the $1 million Thermal Club Challenge, and will also drive the team’s third car for the Indianapolis 500.

The 23-year-old is the most recent winner for the Indy NXT championship, which provides him a significant sum of money to help fund his ascension to IndyCar.

Rasmussen has also previously earned championships in USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, the two steps on the ladder leading up to Indy NXT. In addition, he has competed in the LMP2 category in IMSA with Era Motorsports.

“I am very excited to join Ed Carpenter Racing for the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season!” said Rasmussen in the release.

“It is a dream come true and something I’ve been working towards for a long time now. I want to thank Ed Carpenter and Tim Broyles for the opportunity and I’m ready to get to work and show everyone what we can do!”

Team owner Ed Carpenter will drive the #20 for the oval rounds on the calendar, with the team reverting back to the formula it has utilized in years past.

Rasmussen has already completed a test with the team in September, running laps at the natural terrain road course of Barber Motorsports Park.

“Christian is a driver that has really stood out during his climb through the Road to Indy program and he showed his ability to be a real closer in the second half of his INDY NXT championship run,” said Carpenter

“He did an excellent job when we tested him at Barber Motorsports Park last month and showed that he is fully ready to take the next step into the NTT IndyCar Series.

“We are excited to add him to our lineup and we are anticipating a successful 2024 season!”

Rasmussen will race alongside Rinus VeeKay, who will be competing in his fifth IndyCar season with ECR.

The first race weekend of Rasmussen’s IndyCar career will come March 8-10 on the streets of St. Petersburg.

Ed Carpenter Racing has announced that it has parted ways with its driver Conor Daly with immediate effect.

Daly has been paired with the team since 2020, when he joined on as a part time driver in the #20 entry.

Through a fortunate meeting in Las Vegas, Daly landed a consistent sponsorship deal with BitNile, and was able to turn his relationship with ECR into a full time ride.

That deal extended through the end of the current season, but has now been cut short.

“Although we’ve mutually decided that it’s in our best interests to take different paths, I’d like to thank ECR for the past three and a half seasons,” said Daly.

“I’m grateful to everyone who has supported me – past, present and into the future. I look forward to taking on the next opportunities that await, and I want to thank the fans for being with me on this ride.”

Daly had said prior to the Indy 500 that he was willing to take his loyal sponsor Todd Ault with him to a new team, but it was assumed at the time that was in reference to an upcoming team change at the end of the season.

Now he is without a confirmed ride with 10 races left in the season, and it is unknown if he will be able to bring his sponsor with him if he finds a new ride before the year is out.

Daly’s best finish with ECR was a fifth place result at the GMR Grand Prix last season, and he earned his best 2023 result at the Indy 500 when he finished eighth.

“This is the most difficult decision I have made as a team owner because I respect Conor and know what he means to IndyCar and its fans,” said Carpenter in the release.

“Our team has not been performing at the level we are capable of this year, and despite making technical changes and investments in the offseason, 2023 has been extremely challenging.

“I have put a great deal of consideration into the current state of our team and realize it is my obligation to our employees, partners, and supporters to do whatever is necessary to elevate our team’s competitiveness.

“We sincerely wish Conor continued success and will cheer him on wherever he goes next.”

The ECR release states the #20 entry will continue without Daly, and that it will continue to have BitNile.com sponsorship.

A driver for the car for the upcoming race at Road America has not yet been named.

Ed Carpenter Racing has unveiled new liveries for all three of its cars for the upcoming NTT IndyCar Series season.

The designs are very similar, with a striking gold color on the front half of the car, splashed over dark blue for Conor Daly’s car and white for Rinus VeeKay’s entry.  Ed Carpenter, who is only scheduled to run the season’s oval races, will have the same scheme with black on the back half.

Bitnile, which came onboard with the team last year, is now the primary sponsor on all three cars and is labeled as a team partner in the release.

The company has not been immune to the recent trend of value loss for nearly all cryptocurrency-related companies, but still appears to be fully invested in the team for at least the near future.

“We are excited to confirm BITNILE.COM as our team partner and unveil our new paint schemes,” Carpenter said.

“Conor Daly and Rinus VeeKay are both very talented drivers who bring a wealth of experience to our team. As for the No. 33 BITNILE.COM entry, I am excited to be back behind the wheel for the oval races, which will include my 20th Indianapolis 500.”

The release confirmed that Carpenter will be running the season’s five oval races in 2023, which mirrors what he has done for the past nine seasons.

The new liveries will be on track for the IndyCar open test session starting on Thursday, as the two full time drivers get back in the groove ahead of the season’s first race on March 5 in St. Petersburg.

Ed Carpenter’s IndyCar team is awash with sponsorship from cryptocurrency companies, but he feels that will not a problem going forward despite many digital currencies losing value recently.

Bitcoin, one of the world’s most popular decentralized currencies, has lost over half its value compared to the US Dollar over the past three months.  And it is not alone.

Many other digital currencies have also lost value, and many of the companies that manage those funds are suffering. This includes BitNile, which itself has lost nearly two-thirds of its stock value this year.

With Conor Daly being sponsored by BitNile, and Rinus VeeKay being sponsored by BitCoin itself, there was some concern that the recent downturn would negatively affect the team’s operations.

The owner denied that prospect, however, and assured Motorsport Week that his sponsorship deals are safe for this and next season.

“Not really,” said Carpenter when asked if he was worried.  “With BitNile, we’re promoting their mining operation, but BitNile itself has a lot of different companies.

“They’re actually in a pretty good and stable position with the way their crypto investments are relative to some of the other firms you’ve seen get in trouble that were over-leveraged.  For us, everything is looking okay.  We’ll see how it goes in the future.”

Carpenter commented on Daly’s deal as well, which goes through next season and is fully dependent on BitNile’s continued sponsorship.

“Yeah, everything’s very positive.  Going well.  I don’t expect any changes there, and we’ll see what happens.”

Carpenter is racing alongside his two full time drivers this weekend, as he is running the season’s oval races in a third car for his own team.

Ed Carpenter has set the fastest lap of the short Saturday morning practice session for this year’s Indy 500, lapping the circuit at 234.410 MPH.

That lap is the fastest single lap turned at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Arie Luyendyk completed a lap at over 237 MPH in 1996.

Behind Carpenter was a trio of Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, who have all looked dialed in the entire week.

Conditions for the short morning session were much more representative of conditions expected later in the day for qualifying, thus many drivers chose to head out and turn some laps.

10 drivers, however, chose to use the data they gathered during the gusty Friday practice to set up their cars for qualifying.

The fastest no-tow lap, which is calculated as a fast lap with no car in front to provide a draft, was set by Scott Dixon, followed closely by Alexander Rossi.

There is only a short break until qualifying, which will set positions 13-33 for next Sunday’s race.  The top 12 will run again on Sunday to lock in the top spots.

Rain is forecast to arrive shortly after qualifying begins, however, so drivers may only get one attempt to make their four-lap runs and not have a chance to better their times later in the afternoon.

Rinus VeeKay is having the best start to the season of young IndyCar career this year, and credits the work done by his Ed Carpenter Racing team to give him cars that drive well week in and week out.

The 21-year-old Dutchman currently sits seventh in the championship standings, a product of strong finishes this season which have averaged eighth so far.

His cars have rolled off the truck well for most weekends, and nearly every adjustment the ECR crew has made has helped the car even more.

“I think our package to start with is just better, the setup of the car,” said VeeKay. “We have spent a lot of time in the simulator in the off-season to improve the simulator for us and built setups based on the simulator, which I’ve used in St. Petersburg, Long Beach.

“We’ve made a lot of changes to the setup that we also used in Barber. I think really their work is paying off, and I feel like every change we make within test sessions or every change we make at the track is like nine out of ten times, it’s an improvement instead of a step back.

“I think like the engineers are very on point about improving the car and finding the right changes.

“I was a little sad after the race that I didn’t win last weekend [at Barber.]  I think we had the opportunity to, and of course you want to grab it and take it.

“Yeah, had a few bad sleeps because of that, but I think right now, I’m just extra motivated to go for that win this weekend and defend my win from last year.”

VeeKay heads into the GMR Grand Prix as the reigning winner of the spring event, and hopes to repeat his fortunes around the Indianapolis road course.

Paretta Autosport has confirmed rumors that it will be competing in three IndyCar races this season, with Simona De Silvestro behind the wheel.

The team was formed by Beth Paretta last season, and competed in the Indianapolis 500 with goals of gradually growing its participation while having a female-focused crew from top to bottom.

In order to get back on track this season, Paretta will be partnering with Ed Carpenter Racing, with the latter providing a car and several crew members to augment returning crew members.

ECR already runs two cars for the season’s road courses, but has other chassis available on account of team owner Ed Carpenter running the oval races alongside the two other drivers he employs.

Instead of running the Indy 500 as originally planned, Paretta Autosport will run three races later in the season.  Road America, Mid-Ohio, and Nashville are in the plans at this point, with further races possible pending scheduling and funding concerns.

“I am thrilled to announce that we will be back competing in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2022,” said Beth Paretta.

“We had a great first year working with Roger Penske and Team Penske in 2021 as part of the Race for Equality and Change initiative and since then I have been working on building the right structure and opportunity to continue to grow our team.

“This new technical alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing is exciting for us and will allow us to continue to grow and compete in multiple races this season.

“Additionally, I am proud to continue our association with Chevrolet who has valued, supported, and championed our efforts for diversity and inclusion from the beginning.  This alignment has helped us amplify our message in a meaningful way and we can’t wait to get back on track with them.”

The team also announced a sponsorship deal with KiwiCo, a STEAM-based learning company that helps engage children in science and technology and encourages them to become creative problem solvers.

With all the pieces now put in place, Paretta will attend the Indy 500 and the Detroit Grand Prix in the build-up to her and her team’s 2022 on-track debut at Road America on June 12.

While multiple other IndyCar teams have switched up their driver lineups for 2022, Ed Carpenter Racing is in the middle of a period of relative consistency.

The team will be bringing back their young Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay for a third season in the #21 entry, and has also hired Conor Daly to return for a full season in the #20.

It is not a given that a smaller team such as ECR can keep good driving talent from moving on to one of the large operations, and team owner Ed Carpenter explained in the lead-up to the season how much work it takes to keep hold of both valuable drivers and crew members.

Along those same lines, he also made sure to point out that he intends to do what he can to keep VeeKay with ECR as long as he can.

“I think some years there’s more movement than others,” said Carpenter.  “Every team’s after talent, whether it’s behind the wheel or on the car, the engineering office.

“I don’t remember an off-season that’s gone by where I haven’t had to defend myself from within from someone wanting to get a driver, engineer, or mechanic.  It’s the nature of the beast, what we do.  You can’t prevent it.

“You just have to try to provide an environment and opportunity from within that makes them want to stay with Ed Carpenter Racing.

“I know Rinus enjoys his environment right now.  It’s our job to make sure we’re providing him with opportunity to meet his goals that he has personally and professionally, give him a place where he can accomplish those.  We both want the same thing.

“If we have a successful year, I think we’ll be positioned well to carry on.  If he feels like he needs something else, he’ll be able to pursue that when he can.  The goal is for him to be with Ed Carpenter Racing for a long time.”

VeeKay earned his first IndyCar win last season on the Indianapolis road course, and will get his next chance to fight for number two on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on February 27.

Ed Carpenter Racing has announced that it will retain the services of Rinus VeeKay for the 2022 IndyCar season.

VeeKay joined ECR when he made the move from Indy Lights to IndyCar in 2020, and has proved to be quite talented behind the wheel.

The young Dutch driver earned his first pole in his rookie season at the Indianapolis road course, and went on to claim his first victory this season on the same track.

His season was derailed midseason by a cycling accident that resulted in a cracked collar bone, and his results have not yet come back in full form.

Team owner Ed Carpenter obviously has trust in his talent, however, as he has chosen to bring VeeKay back for a third consecutive season.

“I am very excited to have another season with Ed Carpenter Racing,” said VeeKay in a release.  “We made so much progress this year, I had my first win in IndyCar and made many great memories.

“I want to thank Ed Carpenter for giving me the opportunity to drive for another season. Ed was the one that gave me the chance to be able to prove myself in IndyCar and I am very grateful to him.

“Next year, we can be better than we’ve ever been! We want to be championship contenders, to go for even better results, more frequent wins and podium finishes.

“The atmosphere at ECR is perfect for that, it feels like a group of friends who are eager to work hard for strong results. I am excited to continue that in 2022 and not having anything change!”

The team also confirmed that it will be running two cars next season, with team owner Carpenter driving the #20 for the season’s oval races just as he has since 2014.

The driver of that car for the road course events has not yet been announced, but the role has been filled by Conor Daly the past two seasons.